Afghan plane crashes 'into homes'

[DoYouEverWonder]

24 April 2006

A civilian plane has crashed after overrunning the runway at the main airport in the southern Afghan province of Helmand, security officials say.

A BBC correspondent at the scene of the crash says that the number of casualties is unclear but there are reports that at least one person has been killed.

Our correspondent says that the plane crashed into a housing settlement close to the airport at Lashkar Gah, the main town in Helmand.

Security officials say that there were an unspecified number of people inside the "small white plane".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4937884.stm

[Ecumenist]

1. HUH??!! Into HOMES??!!

Okay, this is just too much. How much more must the Afghan people endure? When is enough enough?

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Seems they don't have much for zoning laws

apparently they knew it was a problem to build so close to the runway but they went ahead and built the homes anyway.

[Roland99]

3. US anti-drugs team's plane hits Afghan homes, kills five

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/24042006/323/anti-drugs-team-s-plane-hits-afghan-homes-kills-five.html

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Five people were killed and 10 injured when a plane leased to US anti-drugs agents crashed while landing and hit a nomad camp in southern Afghanistan.

Another five people were missing after the accident, which happened when the pilot pulled up to avoid a truck that drove on to the runway in Lashkargah, the capital of Helmand province, a coalition spokesman said on Monday.

The Russian-built Antonov 32 could not regain enough speed to stay airborne and smashed
into the mud-brick homes and tents at the end of the landing strip, Canadian military spokesman Major Quentin Innis said.

...

Three Afghan civilians on the ground were killed and two were injured when the plane hit their houses and tents at the end of the runway, he added.

Why was a runway built so close to housing? Or, vice versa, why was housing allowed to be built so close to a runway?

[Kagemusha]

4. It's still not good for trucks to drive on runaways.

One thing led to another in this case, unfortunately.

[Vincardog]

5. There is not much flat space in the mountains.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. more important question:

Why are US "anti drugs agents" operating in non-US territory? What part of "not the world's policeman" do these agents not understand?

[spag68]

9. drug agents

might be there looking for a good buy on dope. what were they doing flying a russian plane?

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. US Drug agents on a Russian Plane

Isn't that interesting?

I wonder what was in the cargo hold?

[genieroze]

11. I can guarantee it wasn't marijuana. The evil weed seems to be the only

drug the (DEA) Dumbass Evil Assholes are interested in busting. Let the poppies flow though.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. Marijuana doesn't fuck you all up

Poppy Bush loves to make life bad for people. Cocaine, meth and heroine are much more effective if you want to make people's lives hell.

[genieroze]

15. You have to wonder who is profiting from these things.

http://www.communitycurrency.org/BushCrimeFamily.html

[pinniped]

7. Were they transporting the poppy plants to a safe processing location?

?

[jukes]

8. hotdog DEA

you'd think they cd afford helicopters, but i guess it's cheaper to put locals @ risk.

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Helicopter aren't good for hauling big loads of stuff

but this Russian baby looks quite suitable for the job.

[UpInArms]

14. update: US leased plane crashes in Afghanistan killing 5

http://channels.netscape.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-world-12-l8&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20060424%2F1012063856.htm&sc=roitz

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A cargo plane transporting U.S. anti-narcotics agents crashed into houses in a southern Afghan town on Monday, killing five people, including two foreigners, officials said.

Five Afghans were missing after the aircraft plowed into their mud-walled homes close to a military airfield in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand province, Major Quentin Innis, a Canadian military spokesman, told Reuters.

The plane had been coming into land when a truck crossed the runway, forcing the pilot into a fatal change of course, he said.

"The latest information we have ... shows a total of five people have been killed, two on the plane and three on the ground," he said.

Eight foreign nationals were injured on board the plane, he added, declining to give nationalities.

Several of them were Americans who suffered minor injuries, according to Lou Fintor, a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in Kabul, adding that the plane was being used by anti-narcotics agents.

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